Disney World Ends Facial Recognition Test
Walt Disney World tested new facial recognition technology for park entry at Magic Kingdom. In this post, we’ll share photos and video of our experience with the new contactless tech, thoughts on Big Brother fears & privacy concerns, and more. (Updated May 3, 2021.)
Let’s start with official details, per DisneyWorld.com and signage outside the gates at Magic Kingdom. According to that, this is a facial recognition technology pilot program tested at Magic Kingdom. It’s one of many “innovative and convenient ways” to improve the guest experience, especially with a shift in focus to more touch-less experiences in the future.
Walt Disney World’s limited test of facial recognition software to enter Magic Kingdom captures an image of a guest’s face, converts it into a unique number, and then associates that number with the form of admission (MagicBand, physical ticket, MagicMobile) used for park entry.
May 3, 2021 Update: Roughly a week after extending the test indefinitely, Walt Disney World has quietly ended the facial recognition test for park entry. All equipment has been removed from the turnstiles at Magic Kingdom, signage is gone, and even the official website offering details about the test has been removed.
Cast Members at Magic Kingdom are advising that the test is completed, and the program is being evaluated for future use (or not) around Walt Disney World. In the past, we’ve seen other tests conclude and then be rolled out widely, whereas others have fizzled out, never to reappear again in any form. Only time will tell which is the case with the facial recognition test.
In any case, here’s how the system worked, and potentially will work again in the future…
Step 1: Enter the Facial Recognition Technology Test Lane
When you’re ready to enter the park, simply enter the lane designated for the test program.
Step 2: Remove Accessories, But Keep Your Face Covering in Place
Please take off any hats, visors or sunglasses before you approach the facial recognition test zone. Your face covering must remain on at all times.
Step 3: Face the Camera
Once in the facial recognition test zone, stand facing the camera and then position your valid park admission or MagicBand close to the scanner to activate the technology. The technology will capture an image, which will be converted into a unique number that will be associated with your valid ticket media.
Walt Disney World also notes that the security, integrity, and confidentiality of your information are extremely important to the company. Disney indicates that it has implemented technical, administrative, and physical security measures that are designed to protect guest information from unauthorized access, disclosure, use and modification. Please be aware that, despite best efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable.
Images and the associated unique numbers captured for the facial recognition technology test will be discarded within 30 days after the test concludes. Walt Disney World will not share the images and unique numbers captured for this test with third parties.
Above is a video we took entering Magic Kingdom via facial recognition. It’s pretty straightforward.
Apologies for the jerkiness, obviously it’s a bit difficult to go through the process of entering the park while recording at the same time. Omitted from the video is the on-screen prompt, which replaces the “touch ticket or MagicBand” once you’ve done that.
Unsurprisingly, this has already proven controversial among Walt Disney World fans. The objections are more or less what you’d expect, along the lines of past Big Brother concerns about Walt Disney World. That’s always somewhat amusing coming from people using the internet, where a few companies have voluminous data about behavior that most people would find inconceivable. It’s particularly ironic when people voice said fears on Facebook, of all places.
I’ve been around the fan community long enough to remember when the controversy of the day about MagicBands was how Walt Disney World would use them to track guests and use that for nefarious purposes. Now, fans are upset at the mere possibility that MagicBands might be phased out. (As discussed here, that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon.)
More recently, there have been concerns about the travel industry and health privacy. In our view, the distinction between this and something like a vaccine passport (which now seems unlikely at Walt Disney World, for what it’s worth) is that this is technology Disney might already been using anyway without your knowledge. Now it’s just being deployed in a way that’s advantageous to guests.
Facial recognition technology is fairly ubiquitous, and its utilization in public settings and at private businesses might surprise people. We don’t know the degree to which Walt Disney World is already using facial recognition, but sophisticated surveillance systems have been in place for years. Casual guests may not notice them, but there are cameras all over in the parks. It’s one of those things that once you start noticing them, you spot them everywhere.
Privacy concerns and apprehensions about the misuse of facial recognition technology are absolutely valid. However, it’s possible to hold those beliefs while also being cognizant of the reality that, to a large degree and on a societal level, that ship sailed long ago. (Arguably, back in September 2001—keep in mind that the true life documentary, Minority Report, came out the very next year.)
At this point, it’s mostly a question of companies will quietly use this tech solely for their advantage or offer some of the upside to customers, as well. People voicing frustration on social media is not going to have the desired effect. Those complaints will make companies like Disney more discreet about what they’re doing, but it will not stop them from using this kind of tech. It’s possible to dislike facial recognition while accepting that it’s an inescapable part of our lives; we might as well take advantage of its upsides if we’re stuck with its pitfalls.
Now, this also isn’t to say facial recognition technology is infallible or Walt Disney World will deploy it flawlessly. We’ve been around the block enough with Walt Disney World and technology infrastructure to know better. Cheap shots at Disney IT aside, it’s fair to point out they have also done a lot post-reopening that has dramatically improved the guest experience.
In fact, three of those things made our “Best of” List for Last Year at Walt Disney World. In particular, contactless security screening is a huge improvement that has made park entry smoother, dramatically improving first impressions of the arrival experience. We are huge, unequivocal fans of that.
With that said, our experience participating in the facial recognition park entry pilot program at Magic Kingdom went pretty well. Of course, this was literally the first day and we entered in mid-afternoon when demand was low and there was literally no one else in line. The system hasn’t exactly been put through its paces, and a truer test–both of the upside and downside–will come on crowded days with attendance back to normal levels. In particular, it’ll be interesting to see whether this has any issues the next time there’s a system-wide outage with Walt Disney World’s technology infrastructure.
Ultimately, although we find the societal implications of facial recognition technology and its use on a national level a bit unsettling, that’s a public policy issue beyond the scope of this post. Setting that contentious topic aside, we’re on board with just about any guest-facing Walt Disney World technology initiatives that reduce friction. As such, we are cautiously optimistic that this will be another such enhancement. This could be the second half of improvements to the arrival experience, proving immensely valuable when crowds pick back up.
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of Walt Disney World using facial recognition technology for park entry? Do you expect this to spread beyond Magic Kingdom and become a permanent feature, or think it’ll fizzle out? Will you utilize this if it’s more efficient or avoid it due to privacy concerns? How do you feel about Walt Disney World’s post-reopening track record with contactless technology solutions? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
How nice would this be for the voting system!?! Hmmm, it would solve so many problems.
Like everybody already said, your picture is taken a million times a day already. I think the mask is causing a problem in action shots and they need a more direct pic
I remember a few years ago at the end of It’s a Small World and our names popped up on the screens just before you exit the boat – we all 3 thought that was so cool.
Not to get too morbid, but is it possible they use tracking data in case of an event like a terrorist attack, so they know exactly where individuals are for the sake of the family, etc?
when I was at Disney in 2020 on my birthday, but not yet wearing my birthday pin, a cast member in management clothing that I’d never spoke to before wished me a happy birthday as he passed me on the side walk. they are definitely already associating faces with reservations for that to have happened to me.
Other than the obvious big brother aspects being disturbing (but as someone else said, probably already in use anyway) … how on earth can facial recognition be done with a mask on? That’s not facial recognition, it’s eyes and forehead recognition, and it’s dumb until masks are no longer needed.
Until a group of foreign hackers get access to the data and make everyones life a living hell. All fun and games until the hackers get involved.
I’m sure what they are really testing is guest acceptance and compliance. They’ve undoubtedly been using this technology behind the scenes for many years.
Tom, you opened the can…what’s in a “Magic file”?
Ah gone are the days when we would hand left-over tickets to large families and give our unused fast passes to a kid crying because he could not ride Toy Story Mania because he lost his!
I don’t see the benefit but agree they got you all over the park anyway. They know who you are for pictures on rides already- I realize that magic bands have RFID but they find you even if you are not in possession of card/band (think cards in stroller). I just hate giving any more info than I have to due to breaches of computers that constantly happen. People write crap all over Facebook about not giving up liberties while losing there liberties when posting!
In my opinion the investment could be better utilized elsewhere. As a frequent reader, I know you are against “security theater”. Given that covid doesn’t spread from touch, I’m of the opinion “touchless” is doublespeak for security theater.
For what it’s worth, having worked on implementing facial recognition in ways related to travel, I don’t think the common issues apply for Disney’s use case. I can’t imagine them matching guest photos against a derogatory data set, which is where you run into (most) issues (at least in my experience).
I’m against both health theater and security theater, which are sadly two distinct things (the latter arising mostly post-9/11). I hope we don’t have a similar phenomenon post-covid, but I’m sure the fine folks at Procter & Gamble, Clorox, etc. feel otherwise. As for Disney’s investment, I’m guessing it’s not particularly significant. The money on the tech has already been spent–it’s just a matter of using it in a guest-facing way.
Good point about Disney’s use case unlikely to give rise to the normal (valid) concerns elsewhere.
Universal Orlando has been using facial recognition with the Express Pass for years.
This is not entirely new technology.
Last trip my magic band somehow got switched in the Disney system with my daughters magic band causing a ton of confusion. When I tried to enter Magic Kingdom on my own one evening the scan wouldn’t work because it thought I was trying to use my daughters park pass. As they tried to sort it out with a supervisor at the entry I watched over their shoulder as they scrolled through all the pictures of me and my family from the past few days in the parks. I was blown away at how many photos there were of us just walking around or in shops and how quickly they pulled them up. If you’re aftaid of Disney having your face on camera I can guarantee you that they already have hundreds of photos of you. If this can make entry faster and more convenient then I’m all for it. If it turns into a bottleneck then I’d rather stick with the magic band. Assuming the system doesn’t switch my daughter and I again of course. What a nightmare that was for Fastpasses.
“As they tried to sort it out with a supervisor at the entry I watched over their shoulder as they scrolled through all the pictures of me and my family from the past few days in the parks. I was blown away at how many photos there were of us just walking around or in shops and how quickly they pulled them up.”
I wasn’t going to be the one to post that since it’s not public knowledge…but yeah.
Now if only everyone knew about their “Magic File.” 😉
I’m not surprised at the surveillance but I never notice hidden cameras or maybe I’m too busy being on vacation to notice. The tech they use must be pretty good. I’m ok with it as they can respond to large problems quicker.
I don’t understand how this improves anything for guests. Seems like having to remove your hat and glasses and then wait for the recognition system would take much longer than just tapping a band or card. Am I missing something?
The only real benefit I see is a way for Disney to biometrically tie a pass to an individual in a contactless way. Something that they lost by discontinuing the finger print stations.
“…discontinuing the finger print stations…”
If you’re assuming that, your assessment is correct.
I’m assuming finger print scans will otherwise be back in the not-too-distant future.
My special needs daughter would be THRILLED. With the old finger touch, they had to call a supervisor almost every time to bring over their iPad that already had – her photo in their system.
Having to not call for and wait for a supervisor because her face is already recognized by the system will be much faster and non traumatic.
I vote – yes!
If it gets me into the park faster I’m all for it.
Sounds fun! But with face masks hmm isn’t that going to screw it up? Or is it because face masks are on for better testing??
It should work with face masks–emphasis on should.
My iPhone should also be able to unlock while I’m wearing a mask, and yet, 75% of the time it does not.
I love tricking my work computer by leaving on my mask or sunglasses, wearing my glasses instead of my contacts, making faces at the camera, etc. The other day I accidentally pulled my hair out of the ponytail as I was taking off my mask and I was asked for my password.
It really is the simple pleasures these days.
Of course, I also enjoy wearing one of my selection of large hats while I’m out walking the business district in my town. They might think it’s me on those security cameras, but I prefer to have some deniability that I was ever there. (It is also entirely possible I watched way too much X-Files in my formative years.)
This is not the first time this has been done in the theme park world. Back in August, Universal Studios Singapore adopted the same system. ( https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-universal-studios/singapores-universal-studios-deploys-facial-recognition-for-entry-idUSKBN24Z15D ).
Also for several years Fuji-Q Highland in Japan has used facial recognition for entry, AND GETTING ONTO EACH RIDE. It’s a park where you can either buy a day pass or get individual tickets.
https://www.fujiq.jp/en/news/h5f6de000000pc16.html
Not the place to talk politics or privacy, but if you’re ok with unlocking your iPhone with faceID, this doesn’t seem like too big of a jump.
Wasn’t aware of the system in use at Universal Studios Singapore, thanks for sharing that.
Japan is leveraging facial recognize all over the place–another noteworthy use is at train station gates.
Universal Orlando has been doing this with their express pass for years now . Why is it a big deal now for Disney to do something similar?
I have always been a fan of surveillance. I don’t mind targeted ads. I hope google is keeping track of me in case I go missing someday. As for Disney World, I honestly don’t see how this is any practically different from a magic band, aside from the fact that it won’t give me a funny tan line or get in the way of my fit bit.
Bring it on! Scan my face! You’re still the best blog.
I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of surveillance, but there are discernible upsides to the ways Google and Amazon track us, and specific (excellent) product offerings that would not exist but for said tracking. I’m less keen on what Facebook does, but I’m less keen on Facebook in general.
The general principle of it all does bother me, but like I said in the post, that ship sailed long ago. Can’t unring that bell at this point.
Facial recognition that requires you to remove the hat that’s on the top of your head and not covering your face, while also requiring you to leave your mask on that covers everything on your face but your eyes. Makes sense to me.
Exactly @PegP! And what if I have a twin? How could you tell us apart especially with masks on?! What is up with the bizarro world?!
Probably really doing an iris scan!
Probably really doing iris scans!
My thought is that it’s to prevent your hat from causing shadows that make it difficult to pick up details on your face. Rather than trying to parse out which kind of hat is ok, it’s easier to make a blanket ‘no hats’ rule.
Algorithms have to be designed to focus on the top of the face because otherwise growing and/or shaving beards would too easily trick them.
face mask time seems like an… odd time to test this out.